T-CAT Corner: the February ‘16 Issue

High street looking messy? Street furniture lost its shine? Then it’s time to call T-CAT!

Ashford Borough Council’s Town Centre Action Team (T-CAT) is ensuring that our town centre stays clean, bright and beautiful for all to see.

What have Tom and the team been up to this month?

December:

In Park Mall we have fitted five shops which are now open, including Emporia, Made in Ashford and Glam R Us Accessories. Also, we helped out at Santa’s Grotto decorating it and making it suitable for Santa himself!

Two Farmers’ Markets this month, a regular daytime one and a festive evening one. Both were really successful with an amazing atmosphere. Don’t forget, this year’s markets started in February with the next one on 6th March - see you there!

With help from Mike Cook, we gave the Bookstop in Park Street a bit of festive decoration. He painted Winnie the Pooh on some scrap bits of wood and we’ve used stuck it on there with some delicious honey superglue

In the Churchyard in town, we cut back all the overgrown vegetation and trimmed the plants because they were getting out of control!

Down Taylors Passage, Dan has been painting the drain pipes and the lampposts with hammerite to brighten the alleyway up

January:

Taylors Passage again - this walk-through is always keeping us busy! On an early Sunday morning, the team went in and gave it a blast from the jet wash. Every piece of grime, gum and mess was destroyed! We also had to replace the plants, repair the wood at the end of the alley to stop the pigeons living in there, and soon we will be painting the paint-covered wall and adding anti-graffiti paint. Then I think we’re done with this alley forever (hopefully!)

Sir Litternot is back, and attended St. Teresa’s Roman Catholic school to inform the children why everyone should put litter in the bin and keep Ashford clear. Use bins and everyone wins!

The planter by McDonalds got a T-CAT makeover with some plants and woodchip

In Tenterden, the clerk had asked us to look at Silver Hill alleyway because of complaints about rubbish. We went in there and litterpicked the whole way through. Also in Tenterden, we received a tweet about some offensive graffiti on an electrical box and removed it the very next morning.

The Singleton Lake Community litterpick is something we love to get involved in. With a bunch of volunteers, we all litterpicked the lakes to make it nice for the people who walk their dogs, ride their bikes or go fishing here

Sneak peek - more Bookstops coming soon! The next one is double in size!

Remember, anyone can flag up a problem or task to T-CAT, including sending pictures, using any of the following methods:

The team can’t carry out work on privately owned land or property, but will endeavor to contact the relevant owners if action is needed. Any problems that are out of their coverage area, or beyond their capacity, will be flagged up to the relevant people.